Page 85 of The Duke's Inconvenient Bride
“I’ll grant you that it seems unlikely,” he said.
He sipped his brandy and studied her. He needed to distance himself from her, that wasn’t up for debate, and he’d intended to make it clear sooner rather than later that he’d be leaving now that she was recovered. It wasn’t the time for that conversation, though. Not when she was already upset.
“Is there another reason that you don’t seem pleased by her visit?” he asked.
Emma rubbed her chest absently. “Let’s just say that I have complicated feelings for Violet. I love her, but sometimes I want to shake her a little.”
He took another drink to hide his smile. “That is fair. I think, if I had a sibling, I might sometimes want to shake them too.”
She snorted a laugh, then covered her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. “Please ignore that,” she said. “So, you don’t believe it makes me a bad person?”
“Honestly?” he asked.
She swirled her brandy but didn’t drink it. “Of course.”
“I think you’re a very good person.” He hoped she didn’t take that as encouragement to romantically pursue him, but it wouldn’t have felt right not to say it. It was true, after all. She’d risen to the occasion of protecting her family. Not everyone would do that.
Affection blazed in her deep blue eyes. Blast.
“What can I do to help you endure this visit?” he added hurriedly before she could respond in a way he might not like.
“It would salve my pride if it looked like we can at least tolerate each other,” she said. “You have been avoiding me. Again.”
Damn it. Perhaps there was no escaping the topic he’d been delaying addressing since she’d awoken from her fever.
“I will try to do better until they depart,” he told her. His gut roiled with nerves, but he blurted out the next part before he could second-guess himself. “I will likely leave soon after.”
Emma narrowed her eyes. “May I come with you?” she asked. “It would be nice to see my family again.”
His stomach sank. He hadn’t expected her to ask. Not after their earlier disagreement.
Now he felt like a cad.
“There’s a chance you’re with child,” he said. “Until we know for certain, I don’t want to risk you traveling.”
While it was partly the truth, it also partly wasn’t, and judging from Emma’s expression, she knew that. She didn’t look happy.
CHAPTER 20
Emma inhaledthe scent of wet grass as she wandered in the garden behind Ashford House. Despite the overcast sky, the smell of grass always reminded her of summer days spent outside at her parent’s country home.
She rounded a hedge and stopped in her tracks. Ahead of her, beside the rose garden, which was currently full of bare, thorny plants, were Violet and her husband.
Mr. Mayhew’s back was to Emma, and his hands rested on Violet’s hips. Her face was tilted toward him, her lips parted and smiling.
Emma ducked behind the hedge just as Mr. Mayhew lowered his head toward Violet. She could only assume a kiss was to follow.
She crouched behind the hedge, unsure what to do. If she turned and walked away, they might hear her. If she carried on as she’d intended, they would definitely see her. She didn’t want to interrupt a private moment, especially not when she felt wrong for having witnessed it.
Her heart gave a dull throb.
How she wished she and Vaughan could have the type of union where she might kiss him in the garden in the middle of the day. Instead, their physical intimacy was limited to nights in the bedchamber, and even then, he hadn’t come to her since before she’d been ill.
A nasty voice in the back of her mind said that it wasn’t fair for Violet to have the kind of marriage Emma had always wanted when she’d never before expressed interest in love. Meanwhile, Emma had a man she could love, given time, but who was determined to keep her at a distance.
“Emma, you can come out now!”
Emma flinched. Drat. While she’d been stewing, it seemed that Violet had noticed her. She emerged from behind the hedge sheepishly, relieved to find that Mr. Mayhew was gone.
